how a police officer recovers from using his weapon

Franceinfo collected the rare testimony of a former police officer who killed in the course of his duties, on the sidelines of the match between PSG and Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2006.

“We don’t join the police to being able to kill people. Our weapon, we want it to stay in its holster. The date of November 23, 2006, I will never forget it “, testifies Antoine Granomort, a former police officer who killed in the course of his duties. Even recently, in Rouen on May 17, a 25-year-old police officer shot dead a man who had set fire to the synagogue and who was rushing towards the forces of the order, armed with a knife. Franceinfo collected the testimony of Antoine Granomort, who used his weapon on the sidelines of the infamous European Cup match between Paris Saint-Germain and Hapoel Tel Aviv. A police officer for 13 years, this 50-year-old man has never spoken about his nightmares. He confides today.

On the evening of November 23, 2006, the peacekeeper was responsible for security for this PSG match at the Parc des Princes. At the end of the meeting, he tried to intervene in a crowd. “I see a little young man running, supporters with belts and sticks, who start to call me a ‘dirty black’, him a ‘dirty Jew’. I start to get hit, my glasses fall off. I fall too. I see a shadow that throws itself at me to kick me and there, I extend my right hand and I shoot the shadow that is in front of me“, says Antoine Granomort.

The bullet injured this supporter and killed another, Julien Quemener, 25 years old. In 2011, the courts dismissed the case for self-defense. “Even if you are told that there is self-defense, that there are the terms of the law, you still tell yourself that you have taken someone’s life. I stayed with this trauma for five, six years.”

“Five to six years of having nightmares, getting up at night, being on anxiolytics.”

Antoine Granomort, former police officer

at franceinfo

“We don’t want to go out anymore. We don’t want to see people anymore. Our eyes are watery all the time and I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. Now it’s hard. But Well, I know that for the parents, it’s even harder and I’m not asking for forgiveness, I’m just asking to listen and to tell them that I was sorry that their son ended up there that day.“. Antoine wrote a letter for Julien’s parents, which he would like to give to them one day.

For police officers, it is also often years of legal proceedings before knowing whether they used their weapon legally, often trying years. Lawyer Laurent-Franck Liénard specializes in defending police officers. “In 30 years at the bar, I have had three attempts at suicidal action because they could not bear the weight, the fact of having taken a life and the legal procedure which is also very hard to bear, since not only do they feel guilty, but they are also designated as guilty“, explains this lawyer.

Today Antoine says he is feeling better, thanks to his wife, his children and his new job as a nurse. But he is angry at the police institution and the lack, according to him, of psychological support at the time.

“You are accompanied, but it’s a quick word. I felt like I was talking to a wall.”

Antoine Granomort, former police officer

at franceinfo

“I saw about ten before seeing the good psychologist who told me: ‘But sir, it’s not your fault.‘That’s what I maybe wanted to hear“, testifies Antoine.

When a police officer shoots, he can ask to be followed by the operational psychological support service (SSPO). In less than ten years, the number of psychologists has doubled, according to the head of the department Catherine Pinson. “A few years ago, it was considered that for a police officer, it was part of the job. There is also this somewhat virile image of the policeman, of authority, of repressing one’s emotions a little. I still believe that there is a form of awareness”, explains this psychologist. “What is important is that he is well supported. Retracing, memorizing the situation with a specific protocol, helps to attenuate the memory anchoring which is specific to trauma“, continues Catherine Pinson.

The police forces most affected by post-traumatic stress can benefit from a specialized establishment near Tours, created in 1952 by the national association of social action of personnel of the national police and the Ministry of Defense. Interior (Anas). Managing stress and emotions is now part of the training of young police officers. But according to the general secretary of the Unité union, Grégory Joron, this is not enough. “In fact, we are not prepared for that. We would have to be put into this situation regularly, which is not done enough. The psychological dimension of shooting to neutralize an individual, we have no training for that. We are still very far from what we could do.” he regrets.

“We know that today, unfortunately, this can still happen very often, which was not the case before.”

Grégory Joron, general secretary of the Unité union

at franceinfo

“So all of this also takes on another dimension and necessarily requires, I think, the institution to evolve quickly compared to what we are experiencing today on the ground”, continues Grégory Joron. As for Unsa, another union, general secretary Thierry Clair remembers: “When I started in the 1990s, there were almost no psychologists, so things are getting better.” But the police officer believes that these services still need to be developed: “It should be systematic, psychologists should be as close as possible to the police.” According to the latest figures from the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), the police force, in 2022 the police officers fired 285 times, an increase of 10% compared to ten years ago.

On average, over 25 years, there are more than 40 suicides per year among police officers, according to a barometer from the Mutual Security Forces (MGP) in 2021. This barometer also indicates that a quarter of police officers are confronted with thoughts suicidal. Post-traumatic stress goes beyond the use of weapons: confrontation with violence, feeling of uselessness, difficulty finding a balance between professional and personal life. An anonymous aid association for police officers was created in 2019: “SOS Police Officers in Distress”. She receives an average of 6,000 calls per year.